Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
To provide cellular wireless communication service, a wireless service provider, or “wireless carrier,” typically operates a wireless communication system including a radio access network (RAN) that defines one or more coverage areas in which wireless communication devices (WCDs) can be served by the RAN and can thereby obtain connectivity to broader networks such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and the Internet. A typical RAN may include one or more base stations, each in turn including one or more base transceiver stations (BTSs) (e.g., macro network cell towers and/or femtocells) that may each radiate to define a cell and cell sectors in which WCDs can operate. Further, the RAN may include one or more radio network controllers (RNCs) or the like, which may be integrated with or otherwise in communication with the BTSs, and which may include or be in communication with a switch or gateway that provides connectivity with one or more transport networks. Conveniently with this arrangement, a cell phone, personal digital assistant, wirelessly equipped computer, or other type of WCD that is positioned within coverage of the RAN can then communicate with a BTS and in turn, via the BTS, access various services provided by the wireless carrier, as well as communicate with other served devices or with other entities on the transport network.
Wireless communications between a WCD and a serving BTS in a given coverage area will typically be carried out in accordance with an agreed air interface protocol that defines a mechanism for wireless exchange of information between the WCD and BTS. Examples of such protocols include CDMA (e.g., 1×RTT, 1×EV-DO), iDEN, WiMAX (e.g., IEEE 802.16), LTE, TDMA, AMPS, GSM, GPRS, UMTS, or EDGE, and others now known or later developed. In addition or as an alternative to RAN access, a WCD may gain access to one or more services provided by the wireless carrier via one or another form of wireless access devices or systems operating according to one or more wireless access protocols such as IEEE 802.11 (WiFi), BLUETOOTH, and others.